Page 36 of Where She Belongs

Right?

Except ever since that day she’d gone riding with Tate, she couldn’t stop thinking about going out again. She wanted to be out in the open, let the warm sun kiss her skin, feel the gentle breeze tug at her hair. There was something about being connected to nature that called to her.

Was this what she’d been searching for?

The possibility of that was real. She hadn’t told Roxy as much. Her aunt might throw a fit if she knew just how attached Rylee had gotten in the last couple of weeks. Summer would be gone before she was ready, and if Rylee didn’t have a firm decision on the matter, she wasn’t sure what she’d do.

The sound of an engine outside dragged her attention and she turned toward the entrance of the barn. That engine wasn’t the familiar purr of Tate’s truck. It was louder. Bigger. She frowned as she walked and then stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Tate opening the back of a trailer to reveal three goats.

“What on earth do you think you’re doing?” Rylee demanded, but there was definitely an edge of excitement in it. She all but floated toward the trailer to get a better look. The second she got too close, one of the goats flopped over onto its back.

She stared, wide-eyed at the animal, her shock wearing off only when Tate’s chuckle reached her.

“That’s a fainting goat. Don’t worry, he’s perfectly fine.” As if to prove Tate right, the goat scrambled to his feet.

“Will they all do that?” she asked.

Tate shook his head. “Nah. He’s the only one.”

“I didn’t know goats could actually pass out,” Rylee murmured, looking closer at the fainting goat.

“Technically they don’t. They’re fully conscious when they freeze up like that.”

She was sure if her eyes got any wider that they could pop right out of her head. “Does it hurt?”

“Doubtful.” Tate leaned his hip against the edge of the trailer as he looked over the three goats still behind a low gate inside the trailer. “It’s a genetic disorder that causes it. When they get excited or startled, their muscles freeze up and they fall over.”

“He’s going to faint over and over again for no reason?” She didn’t mean to let it rise like it did, and to her chagrin, the subject of their conversation repeated his fainting spell. She gasped, her hands flying to her lips. “Sorry,” she whispered between her fingers.

Tate’s laughter wasn’t mocking at all. His amusement spread to her and she let loose a giggle. When their eyes locked, worlds and whole conversations passed between them. She went still under his stare, wondering what was going on in his head. Unfortunately, he didn’t offer any insight and she didn’t ask. “What are you going to name them?” he asked.

“Name them—they don’t have names?”

He shook his head. “I saved these three from being put down. They were found on a piece of property a few cities over where the owners didn’t know how to care for them properly. They had so many animals on their property… it’s no wonder someone reported them.”

“They’re rescues?” Why did that fact warm her heart so fully? She couldn’t bring herself to look at him after she’d forced herself to shift her whole attention to the three small goats.

“That they are. They need a good home, and I think you can give that to them.”

She shot him a flat look. “Of course you do.”

He snickered as he pushed away from the trailer and rubbed his hands together. “So, let’s get these miscreants some names and then we can lead them out to the paddock I repaired the other day.”

Her head shot up just as she reached a hand out to pet the closest goat. This one was white while the other two were shades of brown. “You made sure the fence was sturdy?”

Tate nodded. “I couldn’t very well bring the buggers here without making sure they couldn’t escape, now could I?” He jerked his chin toward the animals. “What’s it going to be?”

She dragged her eyes to the goats and mulled it over. “I don’t know.”

Tate chuckled once again. “This coming from the girl who named every single animal she came across? What did you name that rabid raccoon when you were six? Oh yeah. Princess.” Her dark stare did nothing to chase away his amused grin.

With hands on her hips, she continued to stare at him through narrowed eyes. “Oh yeah? What would you have named her?”

He snorted, one brow arching. “First off, we don’t even know if she was a she. Second, one bite from that creature would have given you rabies. I don’t think it deserved a name.”

“That’s not what I asked. I wanted to know what you would have named her.” She said it pointedly, making it clear she wasn’t going to back down.

Tate huffed out a laugh. “Fine. Maybe I’d have named it Trouble. Because that was what it was.”